Archive for the ‘Our Dogs’ Category

As I mentioned a while back, we started a doggie drill team at Ahimsa. Last weekend, at the Furry 5K to support the Seattle Animal Shelter, we did our first show. While it wasn’t perfect, I still thought it turned out great! The most important part is that the dogs were treated well, even if there was a mistake. We definitely had a great time and are practicing hard for our next gig. See our routine for yourself here:

You can use the links below to share on Facebook, or just copy and paste the link to this page.

Join us for the first meeting of the Ahimsa Dog Training Drill Team! Our drill team will meet every other Friday night at 7 pm. We will perform at various dog events in the Seattle area to show off the power of positive dog training.

Tricks trained with positive reinforcement only.

Dogs should already have good training focus. Not perfect, but good.

Dogs need to be able to be fairly close to other dogs.

Rehearsal is to come up with moves and practice them as a group.

Free, $5 suggested donation to the Charity of the Month.

At some point, we may have tryouts, but for now, we’ll practice with whoever is interested.

There will not be an instructor, because this is not a class, but rather a rehearsal. An Ahimsa staffer will lead the group. She will probably have her own dog present.

Send an email to info@doggiezen.com with the subject line “drill team” if you’re interested in attending.

Do you use the carrot, or the stick? In it’s regular meaning, the stick is used to prod the donkey forward, so it’s not the kind of method I use for dog training. But sticks can be used as rewards, too. I use sticks to reward my dog, Peanut, for walking politely. I can surprise him with a ‘treat’ without carrying anything on me at all. Surprise rewards are the best kind to use when training your dog.

My soulmate¬†dog, Peanut, went to the vet to have an epulis in his mouth removed last week. ¬†The good news? It’s not cancer! And it was small enough that they could remove it without taking out any teeth, thank dog. ¬†

The bad news? He’s a wreck at the vet and it was a $500 experience. ¬†Dogs are not cheap!

The picture here is Peanut as a baby. ¬†He’s 6 now and I saw at the vet that once dogs turn 7, it’s a time to look for a “rapid decline in the dog’s health.” Wonderful. He’s almost a Senior Dog.

Now is as good as a time as any to say that if your older dog is suddenly aggressive or shows other brand new behaviors, it’s probably health related.

My dog was featured in an interview of Ellen Taft, a woman who wants to ban pit bulls and many other breeds as service dogs. My dog has a big head and looks like a pit bull, though she’s actually a Boxer mix, possibly with Greyhound. Ellen Taft definitely has it out for pit bull type dogs, but also mentioned that, among other breeds, Greyhounds shouldn’t be service dogs because, and I quote, “A Greyhound is a very, very stupid dog. It was trained for one purpose, it was trained to run.”

Seattle Metropolitan Magazine has an annual Best of the City issue. As the founder of Ahimsa Dog Training, I was featured as the “Trailblazer” in Seattle Met. Fox chose three of the Trailblazers to feature on their morning show and interviewed me with my dogs at the training center in Seattle. (The dogs are Sagan – Boxer mix, Peanut – border collie / whippet, & Spoon – border collie / hound). Click here to see the Fox “Best of the Best” Interview. The video is sometimes broken, and refreshing the Fox website seems to help.

There’s a big 3D picture in the Seattle Metropolitan magazine (page 96). Thanks again to the puppy class students for putting up with the photo shoot!

Posted in In the News!, Our Dogs | Comments Off on Q13 News & Seattle Metropolitan Magazine – “Best of the Best!”

I just made a quick video of my dog, Peanut, at Magnuson Off Leash Park in Seattle. I have him do the same chain of ten behaviors twice in a row: wait, spin, jump, heel, left turn, right turn, wait, come, sit, and carwash. There are a few dogs that Peanut just met at the dog park, for distraction.

A visit with friends turned tragic when a child approached a family dog with a bone. You hear about this sort of thing all of the time, but too often, people “correct” the dog by telling it not to growl, rather than changing the emotionally charge of the situation. Now the dog is still angry or fearful, but it’s been told not to growl at people any more. Then we get the Silent Biter – the dog who shows no warning before biting. (more…)